h2oface

And the winner is ..... JEFFERS!!!!

Rogers and LaTroy, too.

I hope it is Jeffers. Astudillio is a horrible catcher. Plus, I think the spark would come from the youth, and not the mediocre Astudillio. I would love to see Duran, and he is already on the 40 man roster. I am really tired of the Thorpe outings. After 72 pitches tonight, he isn't available for a few days anyway.

Taylor Rogers is on the mum about this. I haven't seen a statement from him anywhere.

Ah.... the Connie Mack rule. The rules' predecessor was any ball tipped and caught was an out. Foul tip at any point. First or second strike, too. No, I don't advocate changing the current rule in place, at all. https://peoplepill.com/people/connie-mack/ In addition to verbally needling batters to distract them, he developed skills such as blocking the plate to prevent base runners from scoring and faking the sound of a foul tip. (He was probably responsible for the 1891 rule change requiring that a batter must have two strikes against him in order to be called out if the catcher caught a foul tip.) It would be nice to see Duffey get some shots in the ninth. He seems to be the most on his game of those in the pen. But I think Baldelli is trying some things, and still winning 2 out of 3 games. It really is pretty amazing to me. I mean, I certainly would not have picked Theilbar to come in at that stage of this game.

Kenta Maeda got "deGrom'ed".

How does the song go? "And it's one, two, three strikes you're out at the ol' ball game." I believe that is the foundational principle of the sport. That is why there is even a song about it that is sung during the 7th inning stretch of every game. Should those lyrics be changed to include the - except if the batter is so fooled he swings at a pitch that even the catcher can't catch, and then he has the opportunity to run to first base and even though the play is still ruled a strikeout, if he gets there before the ball gets there he is safe? Think “innocent until proven guilty”? I know that's not really true. Not in practice, anyway. Propaganda. I think there is now even a 3 strikes and you are out law. Think "three strikes and you're out". And all the other strikes count as one of the three strikes whether the catcher catches it or not. Maybe the rules of football should be changed. I mean, you can fumble the ball after you cross the goal line as part of a continuation of the motion, like after a third stike has been completed, and the play is over..... once they ball crosses the plate.... er, I mean, goal line. I will always hate that rule. Was it always a rule? From the very beginning of baseball? Or was it added as a rule somewhere after the foundational very first rule book? And if so, there must have been a reason. But like the height of a pitcher's mound, and the distance from the mound to home plate, rules can change. https://sabr.org/journal/article/the-dropped-third-strike-the-life-and-times-of-a-rule/ I'm glad Kepler was able to get to first tonight, though. I am a hypocrite when it comes to the Twins winning.

Because the batter swings and misses at a nasty pitch and already struck out! HE IS OUT! HE STRUCK OUT! If the batter is fooled by a pitch so badly, that he swings at something that isn't even close, he should not get a second chance. And for the pitcher to get charged a wild pitch on a strikeout is ridiculous. I don't mind the runners advancing, but I too have always thought this is a most horrible rule. What other play in baseball can a player that has made an out advance to the nearest base. There is none. How and why did this ever become a rule? Once the batter has swung and missed, he is already out. Runners can chose to advance at their own risk at anytime. But the batter is out. Or should be. That being said.... because it is a rule, it really pisses me off when a batter is not paying attention and feeling sorry for themselves and just stands there and gets tagged out.

The Twins dont' have an ace. Just because a guy has a modest string of great starts, it doesn't make them an ace. One can assign the pitcher who has had the best 3-4 starts to start the year numbers, but it really is ridiculous in my opinion. Just be thankful this team that has no ace has some pitchers who are pitching well right now, and hope that they can pitch like that in October. Berrios? If he would have been improving instead of pitching like he is, coupled with last year...... but he isn't. So is last year the outlier? The Twins chose not to go get an ace. No need to try to fool yourself that there is one on the roster.

"However, it has been Buxton’s aggression at the plate that has led to a hot start." I had to smile when I read this. A week ago, no one would have said Buxton has had a hot start. I always read some that are so quick to, once again, disparage Buxton, and refer to him as Mr. Glass, or some other describtives that mean the same. He was coming off shoulder surgery, and then had a slight ankle injury in summer camp. He is still partially compensating for both, a bit. Stay on the right side of history, and always have faith in Buxton.

I would take any of them over buying cast off Ildemaro Vargas and adding him to the roster instead of one of the above 3. Just what we don't need, another utility guy, especially a light hitting 29 year old utility guy. AND...... they just added Astudillo TOO! I would rather see any of the 3 before him again as well.

No calls for Buxton to be traded today. Hmmm. As it should be everyday.

Garver needs to not read any of this, and not think about it, and relax and hit. Like he did yesterday. Then eveyone can make up more things about what he doesn't have to think about. This timeline is basically the end of spring training right now for timing at the plate.....

Hmmmmm. And balls and strikes was what the comment was addressed to. I do agree about the vacuum, though. After all, this isn't outer space or a Dyson.

I never understand how more wrong calls and the "even out" rationale makes it OK. It is just more wrong calls that steal the game from the players, and affecting outcomes that never get to happen. Every day. Every game.

Any wrong call, and I contend, especially the close ones, the ones the best eye's of a batter or command of a pitcher absolutely deserve, is horrible. If it isn't Meals, it will be another guessing human. Seems this was the prefect year to distance that plate umpire 6 feet behind home plate and signal the correct calls fed to them by the tech. Talent doesn't win games. Execution does. This team seems to have gotten fatheaded and needs to wake up and perform instead of thinking what they look like on paper and what they did last season matters. We are 30% of the season gone. Time to wake up.

The Twins couldn't keep Hendriks around, but they could shuffle through many as bad or worse through the same period, while other teams found a way to shuffle Hendriks and Hendriks shuffled himself. The rules of player movement are tenuous at the AAAA level. Just ask Oliver Drake. The biggest gaffe is the pitching experts in house not even giving Anderson a shot, and he was young. Really inexcusable for that to happen, and the result was immediate. Our guys just totally missed what was right under their nose while fishing for the catch of the day around the league, catch that they had to trade folks like Pressly for...... (who, btw, is sucking so far this year. https://www.crawfishboxes.com/2020/8/12/21364521/astros-will-ryan-pressly-be-ok ) while giving away..... giving away... Anderson.

Berrios ERA going into the game....... 4.80. After 5.31 Settling in as a 5.00 ERA pitcher? I hope not.

4-10 coming into this series.....

Not taking BP isn't working out too well this year.

Maybe Cruz and Donaldson are getting massages.

Donaldson needs a calf masseuse on permanent payroll to keep those bulging calves loose 2 times a day. I think he can afford it. Everyone has to have a plan to keep on the field and being able to do what they do without something stupid like this repeating itself over and over. That should be part of his plan. Yin Yoga daily wouldn't hurt, either. Keep them babies LOOSE!

Bummer. I had a medical insurance company phone call come in..... at the beginning of the 8th, sure and comfy that record win 11 was coming. At the end of the long call, I checked score, and couldn't believe it. Played it back. It was true. They both looked sketchy. Romo was lucky the hanging stuff didn't get blasted, and wow, not even caring about Dyson stealing (why can't our speedy guys steal?) with the time his delivery takes. Beat by a 2-10 team! We still can't get a win streak longer than 6 even winning all these games the last two years. And I was thinking we could win them all......

The sss numbers would really be horrible if you took out the first two games! Fans were drooling over the future .400 hitter after 5 games and a .389 BA, and crying after going hitless for the next 6 games, and o for August. Such is the beginning of a season blues. For all. I don't think he will hit anywhere close to .400, (maybe above .300) but should develop some power ala Puckett. Not many stolen bases in his future. I would hope the Twins would try to culture a better second base option. We really missed a great value in DJ LeMahieu, and went on the cheap with Schoop, instead, that lead us here. I hope it works out.

I couldn't watch the whole game, but what I did see of it, every pitch that Berrios threw that was getting touched, and batters were making contact. Even the fly outs were getting tagged. It is a weird season. I hope that it isn't just August, and it doesn't matter if it is the beginning of an unprecidented short season or the dog days of a long season. My favorite plays of the whole game are in this video, and it didn't even make a recap mention. Especially the catch. Outfielders just don't get to this ball. And he doesn't even have to dive, just glide. https://www.mlb.com/video/byron-buxton-s-wheels-on-display?t=statcast